The K40 Trunk
Lip Mount Antenna has been around for quite a long time and has proven
itself to be a very capable and popular antenna. When you purchase the
Trunk Lip Mount version of the K40, the antenna body comes in a box and the
58" steel whip will come packaged separately due to its length.

After
unpacking you'll find the parts pictured below -

Main unit with coax attached

Three allen screws (two for
mounting and the other one is the set screw for the whip)

A rubber pad which the antenna
will rest on once installed

An allen wrench included for
you to use when installing

A PL259 connector that screws
on to the coax

58" Steel whip

This antenna is very simple to install,
and even more important to many people - its one of the most aesthetically
pleasing antennas to look at once it's mounted on your trunk. The trunk
lip mount looks really clean once installed and doesn't require any
drilling or special tools. Most people can have this antenna installed in
five minutes.

It simply fits over the lip of the trunk
and two screws secure it in place and provide the necessary grounding for
proper performance.

Here's an example of how the mounting looks
underneath the trunk

Here are some pictures of the antenna mounted on
two different vehicles

The picture below shows up close what
the lip section looks like and where your two screws go to hold the
antenna in place.

The K40 has a quick disconnect system which lets you easily remove the top
section of the antenna with just a turn of the wrist. You can literally
remove this section in three seconds and stow the top section with
attached whip. This system is super handy if you park in a garage and want a
longer antenna but don't want to bang the antenna every time you park.
It's also a great security feature if you park in an apartment complex or
maybe someplace in a city where you might be concerned about theft.

K40 also sells a small weather cap to put on the bottom section to give it
a very clean look when the top section is removed and the cap protects
against weather wear on the connector piece.

The K40 can also do something that few other antenna
systems can match. K40 makes a special
Magnamount System that is designed to accept the main K40 unit and
turn it into a magnetic mount antenna. This increases the possible install
locations since a magnetic mount antenna can be placed anywhere on the
vehicle where there is metal and a good ground-plane, such as the roof.

Attaching the unit to the Magnamount is simple and
requires only a couple minutes time. The Magnamount system comes with
everything you need, including an adapter piece, and the magnet is very
strong - (8 pole, 120 pound pull) so no worries about it
accidentally coming off.

PERFORMANCE

If you click on the picture below you'll get a full
size version and will be able to see all of the design features
incorporated into the K40 antenna.

This antenna is a base loaded type antenna and uses a
special capacitor to guarantee that you'll be able to achieve a good SWR.
The K40 also incorporates a couple of features to reduce ambient static
noise while receiving.

After I had installed the antenna I began tuning it,
which is quite a simple process because the K40 allows the whip to retract
into the coil up to 2.25 inches. This means that you should be able to
tune your antenna without having to cut or trim the steel whip. All you
would need to do is adjust the whip inside the coil for the best SWR. I
was able to tune the antenna for a SWR of below 1.5 on all of the vehicles
in testing. While on some vehicles I was able to get a lower SWR than
others, the mounting location and size of the trunk played a part in
the variance. The antenna performed exactly as advertised on all of the
vehicles.

The receive on the K40 is excellent and compared to
other well known antennas such as Wilson 1000 it definitely holds its own.
I found the static level was very low (which is partly due to the antenna
design and partly because a trunk mount antenna is farther away from the
engine and its electrical noise). In all of my vehicle setups I always try
to mount for best performance, but keeping an antenna away from the
engine area often helps reduce electrical interference and trunk mount
antennas are a great way to go.

Transmit is also great with the K40. I was able to
talk to multiple people in my area without difficulty and everyone said I
sounded great and my signal strength was the same as when I use some of my
other high end antennas. Unfortunately we haven't had any DX in my area for a
while so I didn't get to shoot any skip with it, but I have no doubt I
could have made some contacts on SSB.

K40 makes a specific point of telling you how well
this antenna performs in their 30-day money back guarantee, something that
impressed me.

"Your new K40 must transmit farther and receive
more clearly than the antenna it replaces or simply return it within 30
days with proof of purchase for a complete product credit from the K40
dealer who installed it."

Now it's easy for an antenna manufacturer to say
their antenna will outperform another and you'll hear those types of
claims often enough, but it's really cool to see a company stand behind
their statement by offering this type of guarantee. While I don't
necessarily believe this base loaded antenna will outperform a 102"
stainless steel whip antenna, I have no doubt that it will beat many of
the other antennas on the market for RX and TX. Additionally, the
materials and workmanship are guaranteed for five years from the date of
purchase. I'm kind of old fashioned when it comes to standing by my word
so I appreciate a company that believes in their product. K40 is
also located in Pennsylvania so their antennas are made in the USA.

The last thing I'll mention in regards to performance
is the rated power level of this antenna. The K40 is rated for 500 watts
maximum and in my personal experience with antennas I find that it's best
if you don't exceed input by half of the factory rating. Because the K40
is designed with a special matching capacitor that allows it to achieve a
good SWR in a variety of installs, it is better suited to those running
barefoot or running smaller amounts of extra power. The K40 works great
with just a tuned radio and I can attest to that as I actually ran this
model K40 on one of my vehicles for five years with great results. When I
sold the vehicle the guy actually liked my install so much he made me
throw in the CB/Antenna as part of the deal.

To sum this article up - if something has been
selling in the CB market for a number of years you better believe that it
works. Products that didn't meet their claims or were inferior disappeared long ago, and with the introduction of the internet CBer's now
can spread their reviews and opinions with the click of a mouse. So
there's a reason that radios like the Cobra 29 have been made and sold for
20 years and those same rules apply to the K40 antennas. The K40 is a
quality, well designed antenna, built in the USA and it does what the
manufacturer claims it will do - all things I find quite refreshing in this
day and age.

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